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Syria is suffering from the seemingly never-ending cycle of civil war and terrorism.

The country has become a recruiting hotspot for ISIS, the group also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh, ever since Syria descended into internal conflict in 2011.

But despite ISIS' purported religious convictions, the spiral of violent extremism in Syria is not driven by religion, according to Syrian businessman Zaid Al Rayes.

"Extremism is a complex issue, and while there are no exact or clear roots there are two sides to the problem," Al Rayes told Business Insider. "Educational and economic."

"Some say that religious roots are the cause of the problem," he continued, "but if you look in-depth into extremism, we see that people join these groups when they've lost hope, have no jobs, and no rights. I have visited Syrian refugee camps, and I feel there is a great passion for them to want to work. But a lot of them do not have job opportunities, and this is why I established a social entrepreneurship project as I wanted to create opportunities for Syrians."

How extremism is borne out of poverty, not religious beliefs

Al Rayes is one of the 10 people involved in Extremely Together, an initiative launched by the Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World aimed at countering violent extremism within communities.

"At Extremely Together we are 10 different people from 10 different backgrounds, and each of us has different experiences in witnessing extremism," Al Rayes said.

Zaid Al Rayes works for Extremely Together.
Extremely Together

"Extremism is not a new issue, but why are we only talking about it for the last few years?" he added. "I think this is because of the [9/11] attacks.

"But let's take the example of the massacre in Rwanda and what's happening with Boko Haram. These are not new kinds of violence — these have been happening in places where people are in extreme poverty and have no rights. We only start talking about it now because it is touching the West."

Al Rayes initially tried to join politics as part of the Syrian opposition early in his career. He says he found, however, that no matter what type of good work he tried to do, "there were also big forces trying to push their own agenda."

He now heads the Al Rayes Group, a social entrepreneurship project launched in September 2012. The goal of the project is to create job opportunities for youth, especially among Syrian refugees. It started with 2 employees and now exceed 70 employees. Al Rayes Group works in the field of hospitality, particularly in food supply services.*

Al Rayes believes that he can make a difference in Syria by offering economic and educational opportunities to people who would otherwise be driven to extremism by a sense of hopelessness.

He told Business Insider: "People aren't thinking about the economic issues because security is the first priority. At the moment people don't know if a bomb is going to drop on their house. But the reason why I look at this from an economic point of view is because economics provide a future for people."

Al Rayes believes this maelstrom of violence has created the perfect breeding ground for terrorism, adding that Western military action to try to stop the spread of ISIS over parts of the region in fact "absolutely" exacerbates extremism.

As detailed above, he believes that the lack of economic power, poverty, and displacement borne out of the bombings, will only act as a catalyst to those turning to extremism.

Reuters
Syria itself is too dangerous for Al Rayes to operate in, so his focus through Extremely Together is on helping the refugee population.

At last count, 65.3 million people worldwide have been displaced by conflict, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Of those, 4.8 million are registered Syrian refugees abroad and 6.6 million more have been forced to flee their homes in Syria but still live in the country.

Jordan has one of the biggest populations of Syrian refugees, and Al Rayes focuses on helping out Syrian refugees in camps spread across the Middle East. These camps "in Jordan and Lebanon are far worse than those in Europe," he says. "We have limited resources, but we give help to those much needed people."

Jordan has close ties with the UAE and this enables him to seek out jobs and opportunities for Syrian refugees. Since he is based in the UAE, he is able to bridge those in nearby Jordan with opportunities elsewhere.

How to help stop the cycle of radicalisation and extremism

Al Rayes offers three ways to improve conditions for these Syrian refugees in a bid to show them they have a bright future and do not need to turn to extremism.

"We do business in food supply and we try to provide job opportunities to refugees this way," he told Business Insider. "We bring them to countries in the UAE, such as Dubai, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia and provide work so they are able to support their families."

Giving one Syrian a job can end up helping an entire family, he says.

Syrian citizens inspecting damaged buildings on July 26 in a photo provided by the Syrian antigovernment activist group Aleppo Media Center after airstrikes hit Aleppo, Syria.
Aleppo Media Center / AP
He says one of the most touching moments he has had since getting involved with Extremely Together was seeing how providing a job for a refugee named Halid affected an entire family. Al Rayes met Halid in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, where he was living with 23 family members. He had lost a sister and a brother in bombings.

After Halid was offered an assistant chef job in Dubai he was able to provide for his family, and his niece ended up returning to education.

Another way Al Rayes helps Syrian refugees is by giving grants for "socially progressive" projects that directly help them. This includes training and projects that could garner employment opportunities for refugees. So far, three have been granted in Jordan and four in Lebanon. The grants are derived from the Kofi Annan Foundation.

Finally, Al Rayes also helps by supporting education initiatives for Syrian refugees in Jordanian and Lebanese camps. This means providing some means of education within the refugee camps for young people for free.

"When people are in extreme poverty, not allowed to work, and have no sources of funds, they turn to extremism as it provides a future," Al Rayes said. "However, to counter this, we need to show people that they have a future and will be able to provide for themselves and a family, elsewhere."